1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods facilitating injection of a biologic adhesive, and more particularly to catheters having drainage and biologic adhesive injection ports.
2. Related Art
Frequently urologist have to deal with urinary tract bleeding. Urinary tract bleeding is typically prostate in origin as a result of benign prostate enlargement. The enlarged prostate can lead to increased vasculature to the prostate or large varicose veins that become prone to bleeding. The bleeding can result in urinary retention or inability to urinate due to the formation of clots. The bleeding symptoms can also occur in patients with prostate cancer, or following prostate surgeries, such as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or laser prostatectomy.
Typically, in order to stop the aforementioned bleeding, a foley catheter having three ports is used. One of the ports is operable to inflate a balloon at a distal end of the catheter; another port provides an inflow path for irrigation and the other port provides an outflow path for the irrigant and urine. The catheter is inserted in the urethra to the desired position with the balloon located within the urethra. The balloon is inflated to both keep the catheter in place and to help tamponade or place pressure on the prostate to help stop the bleeding. The inflow port is used to introduce saline irrigation fluid into the urethra through the catheter to prevent the catheter from being plugged by clots, while the outflow port allows the irrigant and urine to flow outwardly of the urethra. This process is typically tedious, laborious (to ensure the catheter remains unplugged), and can take several days before the bleeding subsides.